Amtec Hiring Guides

How to Hire Civil Engineers in San Diego

Amtec Hiring Guides

How to Hire Civil Engineers in San Diego

Current Environment

Civil engineering, and specialties within the discipline, are necessary components of any large building project. The current hiring environment facing civil engineering recruiters requires identifying top-notch candidates based on both qualifications and potential to become a long-term contributor to a high-performing team.

Civil engineers conceive, design, build, supervise, operate, construct and maintain infrastructure projects and systems in the public and private sector, including roads, buildings, airports, tunnels, dams, bridges, and systems for water supply and sewage treatment. Civil engineers commonly work in planning, design, construction, research, education, and government.

Generally, a bachelor of science degree is required in either civil engineering or civil engineering technology, along with additional education and licenses for some specialties.

Although a bachelor’s degree is enough for an entry-level position, a Professional Engineering (PE) license is needed for higher-level positions and leadership roles.  A degree from a program accredited by ABET is needed to get a professional engineer (PE) license.

History

The construction of the Pyramids in Egypt (circa 2700-2500 BC) might be considered one of the earliest examples of civil and structural engineering in action. These mysterious structures remain one of the most complex feats of engineering and construction ingenuity given the equipment for building or safety.

But much earlier than that, when mankind started to evolve out of a nomadic existence, the need for shelter and transportation drove early innovations and accomplishments in civil engineering. Since then, the field has evolved as architecture, construction, and infrastructure projects have grown increasingly complex.

How will Recruiting civil engineers Help Your Company?

How will Hiring civil engineers Help Your Company?

Recruiting the top civil engineers can ensure you have the expertise and know-how needed to plan, manage, and complete projects on time and on budget.

However, hiring the best civil engineers in itself won’t distinguish one company from another. Aligning those engineers and other team members to work toward a central mission or purpose will make the best use of talent and resources. Consider the USA Olympic basketball team, the first-year pro athletes were allowed to compete. They were the best players, but they failed to play well together as a team. Teams with lesser talent beat the U.S. because they played better together.

Technology

Technology is an area that is key for engineers. When you are looking for recruits, be prepared with specific questions about a candidate’s expertise with the latest technology systems and software to give your organization critical expertise.

Fill the Talent Gap

If there are talent gaps or your organization needs more expertise in a particular specialty, you can source candidates that fill that requirement.  For example, if certification or licensure in a specialty of civil engineering is required for eligibility to bid on certain projects, this is a high-priority hiring requirement.

civil engineer Details

Responsibilities

Before we get to exactly how to recruit the best structural engineers in San Diego, here are some of the details of the job.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, many civil engineers hold supervisory or administrative positions ranging from supervisor of a construction site to city engineer, public works director, and city manager.

Other civil engineers work in design, construction, research, and teaching.

Civil engineers are often assisted by civil engineering technicians and work closely with environmental engineers.

There are several specialties within the field of civil engineering that may require additional skills and experience.

  • Construction engineers manage construction projects. They are generally responsible for the design and safety of temporary structures used during construction. Duties may include managing budgets and communications.
  • Geotechnical engineers are specialized in foundations for buildings, streets, runways, dams, and a multitude of other things.
  • Structural engineers analyze and design gravity support and lateral force resistance of buildings, bridges, and other structures for strength and durability. This includes creating drawings and specifications, performing calculations, reviewing the work of other engineers, and writing reports.
  • Transportation engineers plan, design, operate, and maintain systems such as streets and highways.

Civil engineers typically do the following:

  • Analyze long-range plans, survey reports, maps, and other data to plan and design projects
  • Consider construction costs, government regulations, potential environmental hazards, and other factors during the planning and risk-analysis stages of a project
  • Compile and submit permit applications to local, state, and federal agencies, verifying that projects comply with various regulations
  • Oversee and analyze the results of soil testing to determine the adequacy and strength of foundations
  • Analyze the results of tests on building materials, such as concrete, wood, asphalt, or steel, for use in particular projects
  • Prepare cost estimates for materials, equipment, or labor to determine a project’s economic feasibility
  • Use design software to plan and design transportation systems, hydraulic systems, and structures in line with industry and government standards
  • Perform or oversee surveying operations to establish building locations, site layouts, reference points, grades, and elevations to guide construction
  • Manage the repair, maintenance, and replacement of public and private infrastructure

Source: BLS

Looking for another position? View other positions we place in San Diego, California.

Education

Typically a career in civil engineering requires a bachelor’s degree. Some specialties within the field require a master’s degree and other industry certifications or accreditations.

Some employers will require a degree from a school that is accredited by ABET, so keep that in mind when researching schools and programs for civil engineering or any of its specialties.

US News & World Report ranked the top 3 undergraduate college programs for electrical engineering. These programs focus on coursework in math, statistics, engineering mechanics and systems, and fluid dynamics, depending on the specialty. Courses include a mix of traditional classroom learning, work in laboratories, and fieldwork.

Armed with a degree, graduates have a multitude of opportunities working in the public or private sector.

These are the top undergraduate schools where the highest civil engineering degree offered is a doctorate.

Top Schools

  •

    University of California Berkeley

  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  • Georgia Institute of Technology

2019 U.S. National Data

Salary Range

civil engineers in the U.S.

$55k
Low
$94k
Average
$144k
High

$110k

Average CA
Salary

$53

Average CA
Hourly
422k

Total civil engineers Employed in the U.S.

86.1%

Men

13.9%

Women

civil engineer Salary Comparison

National

Nationally, compensation for civil engineers ranges between $55,000 for entry-level positions and $144,000 for those with more experience and in higher-level positions.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 422,000 civil engineers employed in 2019, with 16% of those positions being women. The ethnic makeup of the field is estimated as 81.9% white, 12.4% Hispanic or Latino, 3.9% African American, and 13.6% Asian.

According to the U.S.Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for civil engineers in 2019 was $87,060, compared with $94,500, the median annual wage for all engineers.

California

The average annual salary for civil engineers in California was 110k in 2019. The hourly wage averaged $53.

For more detailed compensation information for civil engineers in San Diego, download our free compensation/salary report below.

Working in San Diego

Do civil engineers consider San Diego, California a great place to work? Here are a few things to keep in mind when you are recruiting for a civil engineers in San Diego.

The city lies along Southern California’s Pacific Ocean coast. It is directly adjacent to the Mexico border and is located about 120 miles south of the metro area of Los Angeles. It’s home to approximately 1.5 million people, making it the eighth-largest city in the U.S.

San Diego is famous for its almost perfect climate, natural beauty, magnificent beaches, and a vibrant downtown with culture, restaurants, and nightlife.

However, like many Southern California coastal cities, it has a high cost of living and expensive real estate. This may affect a company’s ability to hire top candidates unless compensation is commensurate.

Pros

    A study by Kisi ranked San Diego as the number one location for work-life balance in 2019. The factors considered in this study were work intensity, society and institutions, and city livability. Data suggests that workers who have a good work-life balance are more loyal to employers and more productive.

On the other hand, there are a few common complaints about living and working in San Diego.

Cons

    • The high cost of living: mainly due to real estate prices, which drives the cost of owning or renting a home, although it’s less expensive than San Francisco or Los Angeles.
    • Lack of professional sports, although this may not be an issue at all for many.
    • Lack of seasons. Yep – almost always 72 degree.
    • Traffic. San Diego ranks #40 for traffic in the U.S. So it is tolerable, but still something to consider.

     

San Diego, California

Current Weather

Not your city? View other cities where we place civil engineers.

Demand for civil engineers in San Diego

Demand for civil engineers in San Diego

The employment of civil engineers is projected to grow 2 percent from 2019 to 2029, slower than the average for all occupations. However, as infrastructure continues to age, civil engineers will be needed to manage projects to rebuild, repair, and upgrade bridges, roads, levees, dams, airports, buildings, and structures of all types. The military and government agencies also require the services of civil engineers.

The supply of candidates and demand for open positions have a direct correlation to a company's ability to hire. Download a free Supply and Demand report for civil engineers in San Diego, California below.

How to Hire the Best civil engineers

Finding and hiring the best civil engineer candidates can save you money right away and well into the future.

The costs of making a bad hire are well documented. The cost can run as much as 30% of the employee's first-year earnings according to the US Department of Labor. Bad hires can cost a whopping $240,000 in expenses related to hiring, compensation, and retention per The Undercover Recruiter. 74% of companies who admit they've hired the wrong person for a position lost an average of $14,900 for each bad hire according to CareerBuilder. These statistics support our long-held position that behavioral questions are the best way to get to know your candidates and past behavior is the best indicator of future performance.

Recruiting Best Practices

The information below comes from the best practices Amtec uses for finding the highest quality candidates.

Defining the Position

When defining the role you are creating, we recommend a position profile to fully evaluate the position you are hiring for. You must decide if the engineer can work remotely or must work in California. If working in San Diego is essential, make sure you include that in your job posting so candidates can decide how many miles they can commute.

How to Source the Best Candidates

When you are looking to source the best quality candidates for your open positions, make sure you have done the legwork to hire an "A Player". You can do this by making sure your company's perspective is aligned with the current market, you have taken into account the job responsibilities, as well as what type of characteristics you are looking for to fit your company culture. Then proceed to write a job posting to attract high-quality candidates.

Characteristics of civil engineers

While licensure is not required for entry-level positions as a civil engineer, a Professional Engineering (PE) license allows for higher-level positions and leadership roles. A PE can oversee the work of other engineers, approve design plans, sign off on projects, and provide services directly to the public.

If you need to recruit the sharpest engineering professionals, look for these traits and qualifications when you interview.

  • Graduate of a program accredited by ABET.
  • Look for candidates who revel in analyzing and solving problems and developing cost-effective, safe, and efficient solutions.
  • The best candidates enjoy being focused, self-motivated, and innovative.
  • If you are looking to fill a leadership role, look for candidates who have proven experience leading high-performing teams.
  • Good communications skills are needed as engineers often need to present plans and analysis during construction or production.
  • Consider candidates who will best fit your engineering environment.
  • Partner with a recruiting agency that specializes in civil engineering to find the best candidates that can do the job, and become a valued member of your team.

How to Screen Candidates

You wrote a job posting, posted the position online, and received a lot more resumes than you’d bargained for! Next comes the enormous task of sorting through those resumes to eliminate the ones that are clearly not a good fit. Now, you have a stack of resumes for candidates who have potential. So how do you go about screening the remaining candidates?

It starts on the phone! As a recruiter, the goal of your telephone screening is to learn more about your candidates. You can confirm that they have the educational qualifications and relevant experience, but you also need to determine if they would fit into your company's culture. To make this job easier, use a system to consistently evaluate results. This way you can equally and objectively compare candidates and evaluate their "soft skills", like communication and thinking process. Download Amtec's Professional Assessment Questionnaire below to help with screening candidates.

Free Professional Assessment Questionnaire

An individually customized questionnaire that helps assess a candidate's competence with written communication skills, thinking processes, and other relevant skills.

How to Interview Candidates

At Amtec, we believe in the power of behavoral interview questions to go beyond the experience and skills listed on the candidate's resume. Although you will want to confirm in the interview that the candidate does indeed have the experience listed on their resume, your assessment needs to go much deeper than that. An interview using behavioral questions can help you determine how well the candidate will fit with your company culture.

Download Amtec's best practices on conducting super effective interviews to find the best candidates and fill your open jobs.

Behavioral Interview Guide

Get the info you need to hire the best civil engineers

Free Interview Guide